Students who have anxiety disorders are suffering from poor academic performance and resistance to any co-curricular activities. Anxiety leads to a lack of engagement in classroom activities, poor relationships with peers and teachers, and disinterest in following passions and planning for the future. Their learning is also affected because anxiety and depression can impact working memory, challenging the learning process. Children cannot learn new information and cannot recall previously known information.

There are different signs of anxiety problems

There are behavioral, emotional, and physical signs of anxiety problems. Some children show physical anxiety-like headaches or stomach aches, which have no medical reason for them. They may refuse to eat snacks or lunch at daycare or school, won’t use bathrooms except at home, is hyperactive, or distracted ( without having ADHD), starts to shake or sweat in terrifying situations, and trouble sleeping.

Examples of emotional anxiety are crying a lot, being angry without any reason, and always being afraid of making even minor mistakes. Some children worry about things far in the future, are always scared of making even minor mistakes, and having frequent nightmares about losing a parent or loved one.

Examples of behavioral signs of anxiety are:

• Some children remain silent when working with others.
• Children say no to school.
• Stays inside alone at lunch or recess.
• Avoids social interactions with other kids like birthday parties or extracurricular activities,
• Constantly seeks approval from parents and caregivers, teachers, and friends,
• They always say, “I can’t do it!” without a real reason and always ask for help.

There are 7 Tips to reduce test anxiety in middle schoolers

Reduce stress through weekly practice tests

If a teacher is conducting practice tests, encourage your child to take them. Discuss what your child finds confusing about a concept. Weekly tests let your child learn well, and they will reduce anxiety. After each practice test, review the question paper and find out which portion is difficult. Try to know well before the practice test. If you study well in each small practice test, you can perform well for the main exam.

Avoid the sudden panic by creating a schedule

Last-minute all-at-once studying can result in poor retention, stress, guilt at feeling behind, and mental tiredness from lack of sleep. Make sure to keep up with their habits of good nutrition and exercise. Daily physical activity is essential. Otherwise, it will lead to mental depression. If students have organizational problems in their study plans with their time, it may make them too unhappy, stressed, and frustrated to complete their assignments.

Minimize anticipation

Tell them to avoid negative thoughts. If they worry about their examinations, it will increase their stress and reduce their exam preparation energy. They cannot concentrate on their studies if they anticipate unrealistic things.

Do self-talk

Tell them to pay attention to their thoughts just before a test. They need to know how to manage their mind, calm their emotions and relax their body. This intensely focused mind-body state gives them excellent recall, mental alertness, and clarity.

Improve note-taking skills

Taking notes is essential to have a written record of any lecture. It helps the student understand the concept in a natural language, improving his class time concentration. Note-taking is a handwritten guide that will help you to revise anytime and anywhere. It allows you to recall the subject matter quickly. You need not write each word spelled by your teacher. Instead, you can use an abbreviated version. You can quickly revise all the essential points on the eve of examination, increasing your memory and feeling confidence and reducing stress. Note-taking also increases interest in a particular subject.

There are a lot of methods for note-taking.

Mind mapping method.

Bullet method.

Outline method.

Split page method.

Follow up Homework

Parents should follow up on homework regularly, which will increase the child’s confidence level. Parents and teachers should check the assignment and give feedback to improve the learning process. If there are any assignments, ensure that after reviewing the work, you allow the student to correct the errors you have identified. A follow-up activity avoids mistakes and encourages confidence in a student’s ability.

Do not think about grades

Do not give too much importance to grades. We lose concentration in our daily learning. Study portions in a systematic way. It may be a half-hour or one hour is not a problem. Make learning a routine. A growth mindset encourages the belief that with hard work, students’ grades will be higher. All students and their teachers understand that students will be better at the skill they are practicing.

Conclusion

Anxiety is an invisible disease. It can be challenging to identify these disorders in students unless teachers and parents deeply understand them. The best way to improve the conditions is to address them as soon as possible. The tips mentioned earlier will help children to reduce anxiety problems and success in future life.